Godavari In Spate: Flood Alert In AP

Amaravati: Road and communication network remained cut off to several villages along the Godavari river course in East and West Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh on Sunday due to increased flood flow.

More than 11 lakh cusecs of floodwater was being discharged into the Bay of Bengal from the Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage at Dowaleswaram even as the first warning signal remained in place.

The State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) said the flood trend was 'rising' because of copious inflows from the upstream regions.

Over 19 submergence villages under the multipurpose Polavaram remained marooned and the road network cut off as the flood level touched 27.65 meters at the project site on Sunday evening.

State Disaster Response Force and Fire Services personnel have been deployed in the flood-hit areas to oversee rescue and relief operations.

A team of 30 NDRF personnel has also been mobilized at Rampachodavaram for the flood relief operations, the SDMA said.

According to SDMA sources, villages under Devipatnam mandal in East Godavari and several others in the Konaseema region also faced the threat of inundation as the water level in the Godavari kept rising.

This was the second time in over a month that these villagers were facing the fury of Godavari.

On the other hand, the first warning signal was raised at Gotta Barrage in Srikakulam district as river Vamsadhara remained in spate.

Here, 55,148 cusecs of the flood was being discharged even as the trend remained steady.

Meanwhile, river Krishna also has been receiving steady flood, with inflow at Srisailam reservoir touching 2.26 lakh cusecs. About one lakh cusecs were being discharged from here.

The Nagarjuna Sagar downstream was letting out all the 43,777 cusecs that it was receiving while Water Resources Department authorities were discharging 31,231 cusecs from the Dr. K L Rao Sagar as it filled to the brim.

Prakasam Barrage in Vijayawada has been receiving 37,654 cusecs from Dr. K L Rao Sagar as well as rivulets like Munneru.

However, there is no immediate threat of inundation along the Krishna course as the flood flow remained steady SDMA sources said. (PTI)